Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-14

much trouble as the traffic in liquor
The Department has taken for granite,
that the Agent has the eyes of Argu
and the hands of Briareus, and coul,
from his office detect and arrest ever
liquor seller in district of 200 mile
square. Indians are just as shrewd a
white men in their plans to get liquor
The Agent has succeeded in bringing
many often lers before the Unite,
States Commissioner and thu Unitet
States Grand Jury, and has used TIN
State courts for their conviction whel
it was more convenient than to appea
to the United States courts. Their
are hundreds of persons in this agenc.
who are willing to report to the De
partment a supposed delinquency o
the Agent in failing to arrest and con
vict liquor sellers, yet who would fiet
to the mountains rather than testify
against one of these same violators o.
the law.
i FARMING OPERATIONS.
| The farming operations among the
Indians for the past year have not
been, on the whole, great succ cess.
This has resulted, in part, from the
exceeding dryness of the winter and
spring and absence of all facilities for
irrigation, and more largely, from the
want of some coercive power on the
part of the Farmer to enforce the plant
ing and cultivation of crops. These
causes led me to ask the abolition OF
the office of Additional Farmer for the
Mission Indians. While the crops
have been very light, still there will
be no suffering, except among the
aged and infirm.
| SANITARY.
The sanitary condition OF the Mis-
sion Indians has been good, with the
exception of an epidemic of whoop-
ing-cough and measles. At one time,
while the smallpox was prevailing in
| Los Angeles, the Indians became
alarmed by false reports of this loath-
some disease having broken out on
some of the reservations. The agent
at once asked the Indian Department
| for vaccine matter, with authority to
send the Agency Physician to vac
cinate the Indians. A large number
of the Indians were vaccinated. The
Desert Indians, known as the follow
ers of Cabezon, refused to allow their
children to be vaccinated. The supe-
rior skill and tact of DIR. w. E. Ferre-
bee, my Physician, has done very
much towards giving the Indians a
confidence in the white mans medi-
cines and of his medical knowledge.
The absence of all hospital facilities
has caused the death of many Indians
who might have been cured, if they
could have been protected from the
inclemency of the weather during
their sickness. The necessity of hosp
pital accommodations has been urged
heretofore, by the Agent, and it is
hoped that they will be granted dur
ing this fiscal year.
POPULATION.
At this writing all the Census Re-
ports of the Agency are not at hand.
So many of the school employees were
dismissed at the end of the last fiscal
year, that it has been impossible with
the very limited number of employees
to get correct census up to this date.
SCHOOLS.
No department of the agents work
has shown such gratifying success as
that of the schools. The average at
tendance of the various schools for the
last quarter has been 10. This small
attendance was the result of an epi-
demic of whooping-cough and measles
among the children. There have been
eleven schools in operation during the
year. The twelfth school, located at
San Bernardino, was in operation for
few months, but was abolished for
reasons not necessary to mention. The
department has ordered suspension
of all schools not having an average
attendance of twenty pupils. This is
a severe rule, as the children living in
a community where there are only fiji
teen children, have the same claim on
the Government as those who live in
larger settlements.
The agent would most respectfully
emphasize his request that all OF those
schools showing an average Of fifteen
be re-opened. The suspension of these
schools is a backward step in the line
of Indian civilization.
SOLUTION OF THE INDIAN PROBLEM.
This problem which has puzzled
statesmen for so many years is one OF
easy solution, if the common sense
principles are applied, which make
other great schemes successful.
Mere book-knowledge will never lift
the Indian out of barbarism. His
hands need education Just as much as
mind. He must be taught to rely on
himself.
Ii all the Mission Indians were col
lected on two large Reservations, the
question OF their civilization could be
accomplished within ten years. The
general outline OF the policy would be
as follows: Collect all the Indians on
one or more Reservations. Allot these
lands in severalty to heads of families
building each family comfortable
house, and furnishing each family with
a horse and COW and some agricul-
tural implements. Erect agency
school and hospital buildings in
a central part OF the reservation, also
shops of various kinds. Employ q
few real practical farmers mot Court
House or political farmers) and give
them authority to put every able
bodied man to work on his own land
at a given hour and the right to compel
him to work given number OF hours
each day. Let this work be directed
by the farmer under the improved
methods of modern farming, teaching
the Indian how, when and what to
plant, and how to cultivate, harvest
and market his crop. Have the chill.
dren of school age taught one half o.
each day the rudiinents OF good
English educatinn and LET the other